"About to prove 'em wrong" - Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian continues to champion women's sports as "Athlos" venture receives recognition

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian was recently named the 2024 Brand Genius by Adweek. The award recognizes Ohanian's work in the past 4 years after his resignation from Reddit in 2020.

Ohanian had co-founded and worked on influential brands like Snoo and Reddit for 15 years. He eventually resigned from Reddit in 2020, and urged the company to hire an African-American candidate.

Ohanian is the second person in the household to receive the honor. Serena Williams was the recipient of Adweek's 2018 Brand Visionary Award. At the time, Williams had turned into an entrepreneur with her fashion line S by Serena and Serena Williams Jewelry, before eventually hanging up her racket in 2022.

Both Venus and Serena Williams congratulated Ohanian for his award on social media. Ohanian took to X (formerly Twitter) to thank AdWeek for the recognition and added his thoughts on Athlos.

"In 2005, it was the conventional wisdom that the average person would never rely on UGC — only traditional media. Reddit proved that wrong. In 2019, it was the conventional wisdom that there was insufficient demand for women's sports. We're about to prove 'em wrong again. Big thx to @AdWeek for recognizing the work we've been doing."

Athlos is a one-night track event that will take place on Thursday, September 26 in New York. The event will be a six-race all-women event, featuring Olympians Gabby Thomas and Alexis Holmes.

The festivities will include on-track music by DJ D-Nice and a performance by rapper Megan Thee Stallion.

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Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian backs women athletes via NWSL Angel City FC, Offseason FC show

Serena Williams(left) and husband Alexis Ohanian(right) with daughter Olympia(center) at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Image: Getty

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian has been a keen investor in women's sports. In 2020, Ohanian became the founding investor in the National Women's Soccer League team Angel City FC.

This year, the team was valued at a record $250 million after Disney chief executive Bob Iger and his wife Willow Bay acquired a controlling stake in the team.

Ohanian is also set to launch "Offseason FC," a reality show that will stream live on X, featuring select women athletes living and training during the NWSL off-season in Miami.

In an article by AdWeek, the Reddit co-founder said investing in women's sports was "easy" as there was no precedent to follow. He said,

“The silver lining of women’s sports being so underinvested was that they were so easy to invest in. You can try anything you want. There is no way that things have been done before.”

Ohanian has also invested in a women's sports bar through his company Seven Seven Six. He recently helped cover rent for American discus thrower Veronica Fraley at the 2024 Paris Olympics.